Whats your Technique like?
- Thread starter TEZARM
- Start date
Permanent marker and ammonium persulphate crystals usually.
I've been helping my old electronics teacher with a few things around the school so he's offered to let me use the school's UV exposure box. I've also helped him get a MODELA MDX-3 plotter running which he'll let me mill some boards with if I can get around to using...
Veroboard as a last resort.
(And in support of Stan, BREADBOARDS!!!, if you care to consider them as PCBs... =) )
ylp88
I've been helping my old electronics teacher with a few things around the school so he's offered to let me use the school's UV exposure box. I've also helped him get a MODELA MDX-3 plotter running which he'll let me mill some boards with if I can get around to using...
Veroboard as a last resort.
(And in support of Stan, BREADBOARDS!!!, if you care to consider them as PCBs... =) )
ylp88
bgrabowski
Senior Member
My students use PCB Wizard or Real PCB software to design the PCB artwork.
Use 60 g/m2 A4 tracing paper in a laser printer to make the UV masks. You will never waste your time and money with OHP acetate again!
Use 60 g/m2 A4 tracing paper in a laser printer to make the UV masks. You will never waste your time and money with OHP acetate again!
Thanks for your feedback guys.
Hey Yip88. Instead of the Marker Pen, you should check out the blue "press and peel" paper from Jaycars. Simple and quick. Just desisn PCB Design on PC. Photocopy it to dull side of Blue Paper and turn over and Iron on to Copper board and peel off. Then chuck it in a hot mixture of the same etchant your using now and seven minutes later, a nice PCB Board all finished.
Hey Yip88. Instead of the Marker Pen, you should check out the blue "press and peel" paper from Jaycars. Simple and quick. Just desisn PCB Design on PC. Photocopy it to dull side of Blue Paper and turn over and Iron on to Copper board and peel off. Then chuck it in a hot mixture of the same etchant your using now and seven minutes later, a nice PCB Board all finished.
Michael 2727
Senior Member
If you are using pre-coated PCB and dveloper.
You can just mix 1 teaspoon of Caustic Soda
from the supermarket to 1 Litre of water, Does the same job and saves about $15.00 L.
You can just mix 1 teaspoon of Caustic Soda
from the supermarket to 1 Litre of water, Does the same job and saves about $15.00 L.
Yeh it's a shame the Press and Peel is so expensive ay. It's the way I have been making PCB's for probably the last 3 years. I have really got the gift of it now and can turn out some very tidy impressive looking boards. About three months ago I got some boards photo etched to see how they would turn out. $160 NZ Dollars and they looked good but experimenting with the press and peel more and I now can use it to get exactly the same quality as if they had been photo etched. So although the press and peel is expensive, it's cheaper than getting them photo etched and the result is pretty much the same anyway. But yes, I wish the press and peel would be cheaper.
My old teacher has tonnes of the photoresist board and is more than willing to let me use some (so long as I shw him the final product, of course!) and the resolution is great, even when using overhead projector (OHP) film as a UV mask!
As for small run CAD cirucits:
I cut a clear protective sleeve such that I only have a single film of plastic. I feed it though an inkjet printer and print the black (ie. the tracks) as a light shade of grey (80/255, from memory, with 0 eing white to 255 being 100% black). With the ink still wet, I rub it onto the blank PC board and then use a fine Artline (No. 725) and manually draw the tracks on, based on the inkjet transfer.
Crude huh? But hey, it works and is cheap!!! $3.00 for the pen and $1.00 of ammonium persulphate (the PC board is a bit pricey, though...), $3.00 for a pack of 100 sheet protectors... Not too bad, even if I say so myself!
ylp88
Edited by - ylp88 on 10/20/2005 1:10:56 PM
As for small run CAD cirucits:
I cut a clear protective sleeve such that I only have a single film of plastic. I feed it though an inkjet printer and print the black (ie. the tracks) as a light shade of grey (80/255, from memory, with 0 eing white to 255 being 100% black). With the ink still wet, I rub it onto the blank PC board and then use a fine Artline (No. 725) and manually draw the tracks on, based on the inkjet transfer.
Crude huh? But hey, it works and is cheap!!! $3.00 for the pen and $1.00 of ammonium persulphate (the PC board is a bit pricey, though...), $3.00 for a pack of 100 sheet protectors... Not too bad, even if I say so myself!
ylp88
Edited by - ylp88 on 10/20/2005 1:10:56 PM
premelec
Senior Member
I've done a lot of hand drawn one side boards using marking pen and ferric chloride - My technique is a little odd in that I drill holes _before_ etching and drawing - that way the holes give me a guide where to draw. Also if you are doing two sides the hole gives perfect registration - I have at times stacked 4 identical boards before I drill... Obviously a faiely crude methode yet it works if the components aren't too fine. Recently I've had Expresspcb.com miniboards made with 340 holes two sided - they've been fine & $60/3pc.
BeanieBots
Moderator
premelec, not so odd. That's exactly how I do it. I also use wire-wrap for extremely fast prototyping when speed is more essential than cost.
Aaaaggghhhh. BeanieBots. Wirewrap. Are you crazy. How do you have the patience with that extremely frustrating technique. I used that method when I first started electronics and none of my projects used to work due to poor unseen connections so after 2 weeks gave up and switched over to Wishboards which were still frustrating but a little better to work with and then a month later got into designing my own boards. Hmmmmmmm, interesting techniques that you others have. Might have to try some of them out. Oh yes, DOUBLE SIDED circuit boards. I try to stay clear of that Nightnare but next year will have to get over it and start doing double sided as boards get to big at times using one side only.
BeanieBots
Moderator
The trick with wirewrap is to have a good quality correctly adjusted tool. It is absolute lightning once you have the hang of it. I can knock up an 08 LED flasher with download circuit quicker than the soldering iron takes to get to temperature. It would be a close match with breadboard though.
Whatever works I guess. If I need to make up a circuit quickly then I use Wishboard. I refuse to use Wirewrap. And I hate using Veroboard as well, I would rather etch a experiment board than use Veroboard. The other problems I find with Wirewrap and Veroboard are that it looks to messy and to hard to see what you have done as there are wires going everywhere. But there is no simple way to the problem of making up quick test circuits. It sounds like you have Wirewrap down to a fine art. Wish I could do it that quick to but I am one oF these people that take an hour to do a five minute job. Have always been like that. I am such a perfectionist that it drives me nuts at times as I try to do everything more pefect than is possible. When making a simple circuit board I always have to make it perfect, Why it's just for experimenting you idiot. Damn,Im frustrating at times.